Janet Jackson still hurt by brothers’ childhood taunts

Singer Janet Jackson was hurt as a child – because her brothers’ mean comments made her feel unattractive.

The star reveals in a new interview for the “Today” show that her male siblings – Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael and Randy – taunted her with cruel nicknames, including “horse, pig, cow, and slaughter-hog.”

Jackson admits the jokes hit her hard, and she took to harming herself to help her deal with the comments.

She says, “I would literally bang my head up against the wall because I didn’t feel attractive. There was a lot of pain in my life. But I did. I felt very unattractive.

“It makes you laugh, it really does. It makes you laugh. I guess some people could say, ‘Oh that’s, you know, brothers and sisters joking, it’s all affection, it’s all, you know, it’s in a loving way.’ But not everybody can brush it off, and I was one of those.”

And the star admits she’s still affected by her childhood moments and holds insecurities about her nicknames.

She adds, “I still have issues with it. I don’t bang my head up against the wall, but I still have those moments. And I think it’ll probably continue but at least I know how to deal with it now. And I’m in a much better space.”